Bill and letter file



(NO Model.)

S. H. FISH.

BILL AND LETTER FILE.

No. 351,168. Patented Oct. 19, 1886.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

-SAhIUEL II. FISH, OF IIINSDALE, ILLINOIS.

BILL AND LETTER FILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 351,168, dated October 19, 1886.

Application filed March 23, 1889.

this specification.

My invention relates to bill and letter files; and its object is to enable the user to file the bills readily, one after the other, as desired, while all bills upon the file are readily accessible for examination, any bill being easily removed and replaced in its order without disarranging any other of the bills upon the file. After the needles or hooks are full the bills are readily stripped off upon threads and tied up to be put away for future reference.

By making my file, as hereinafter described, without delicate springs or complicated mech anism, the cost of manufacture is greatly reduced, and troubles heretofore experienced by users, on account of files breaking and getting out of order, are greatly lessened or wholly avoided.

My invention consists in a frame provided with upright standards with horizontally-pro 3o jecting arms, a shaft mounted on said arms,

needles or hooks attached rigidly to the shaft, arms or hooks opposed to said needles, a con tinuous wire forming a pull-rod or handle pivoted to theneedles for turning the shaft to open and close thefile, and stop mechanism for holding the hooks or needles closed and limiting the movement of the shaft.

As to the state of the art prior to my invention, reference is made to my Patent No. 294,214, of February 26, 1884; patent to Foster, No. 224,161, of February I .1880; patent to Keep, No. 279,170, of June 12,1883, and patent to Iseminger, No. 237,112, of May 4, 1880.

My invention is illustrated in the acr'mnpanying drawings, in which Figure ilv is a perspective of my bill and lettcrlile. Fig. 2 is an elevation of a portion thereof as seen from line or x of Fig. Fig. 3 is a plan in detail of a portion thereof. Fig. 4 is a detailed view of the point of one of the needles and the cor- Serial No. 196,241. (X0 modcLl responding socketin the opposing arm or hook. Fig. 5 is a detailed plan View, upon a reduced scale, of the handle or lever.

Like parts are indicated by the same letters of reference in the different figures.

The base a. may be of wood, and is preferably provided with a hole, b, so that the file may be conveniently hung upon a nail against the wall, if desired. The frame is preferably a brass casting screwed to the base. The upright pieces 0 are each provided with a horizontally projecting arm or part, (1. These horizontal parts serve as supports for the shaft 6. To this shaft are rigidly attached the needles or hooks f. of the form shown, and it is evident they will be moved to open and close the file as the shaft is turned in its bearings. In order that this may be readily done I provide the handle or pull-rod g, which is pivoted, as shown, at 71, and 71/, and serves as a handle to open and close the file, as desired. The curved arms or hooks i are secured rigidly to the top of the upright piecese, and are provided with sockets for the points of the needles, as shown in Fig. i.

\Vhen. the file is closed, as shown in Fig. 1, each needle f and its corresponding curved arm 2' form together, preferably, three-fourths of the circumference of a circle. The joint between the point of each needle and its corresponding arm, '5, is preferably smooth, as shown, so that the bills when placed upon the needles may be readily lifted up and slipped over the arms, so that the lower bills in the file maybe examined or taken off.

- In order that the file may be held closed, I provide catches 7: It: upon the handle g, which slip over and are held by thebar or connecting-piece l of the frame when the file is closed. Thus, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2, on push ing the handle forward to close the file, the catch or lug 7,: will pass over bar Z, and when the file is closed will serve as a stop to hold the file closed. As these catches L are carried upon the handle, it is evident the act ol'puslt ing the handle forward to close the file will cause these catches to engage with the bar or connecting-piece Z, as shown in Fig. 1, and thus the file will be held closed.

As it is necessary to press against the points The needles are preferably up too high. 7

There are modifications of my device that will readily suggest themselves to a mechanic. For example, the wire forming the handle may be bent to form stops in place of using lugs, as shown in the drawings. I therefore do not limit myself to the precise construction shown, but claim, broadly 1. The combination, in a bill and letterfile, of curved needles rigidly attached to the same shaft, handle or pull-rod pivoted to each of said needles, for turning the same, fixed arms or hooks, opposed to said needles, respectively, and stop mechanism carried upon said handle for holding the file closed, substantially as shown and described; i

2. The combination, with the frame having the upright pieces and the horizontally-projecting bearings, of the shaft mounted on said bearings, the radially-projecting pieces 0 0, rigidly attached near the ends, respectively, of the shaft, the hooks or arms it, secured to the upper portion of the frame, the needles ff, opposed to said arms,and a handle or pullrod pivoted at h h, to open and close the file, substantially as and for the purpose specified.'

The combination,with the frame consisting of the bar Z, upright pieces 0, and bearings d, of the shaft mounted on said bearings, the needles attached rigidly to the shaft, the op posing wires or arms 2', attached to said frame and provided with sockets corresponding to the needle-points, and the handle or pull-rod g, pivoted to said needles at h h, and provided with stops or catches k, whereby the file may be opened and closed, and bills placed thereon may be examined or removed, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, in a bill-file, with the handle or pull-rod 9, provided with catches k and m, of the needles f, to which said handle 9 is connected, the shaft to which the needles are attached, and a frame for supporting the shaft, substantially as and for the purpose specified. a

5. The combination,with the curved needles and their opposing curved arms or hooks, of

the central shaft to which said needles are attached, the handle or pull-rod pivoted to the needles, and the frame and stop mechanism,

' carried by the handle and operated thereby,

whereby the file isopened and closed, and held 1 closed and the motion of the needles limited, substantially as and for the purpose specified. 6. The combination,with the upright pieces 0 0, provided withpins n, for limiting the upward motion of lever g, of said lever 9, provided with catches or stops k k and m m, said lever or pull-rod being pivoted at h h to hooks or needles f, the shaft 6, j ournaled to the frame and carrying said needles, and the curved arms it, attached rigidly to the frame, and,with sa-id needles, when closed, forming about threefourths of the circumference of a circle, substantially as specified.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 19th day of March, A. D. 1886.

' SAMUEL H. FISH. \Vitnesses:

GEORGE 1?. BARTON, CHAS. R. CALDWELL. 

